Background: The diagnosis of a life threatening illness like cancer has psychosocial implications for patients which could affect their purpose in life. Purpose in life is very important as it gives one a reason to live and could help build a fighting spirit even against a life threatening illness. This study was designed to assess the difference in purpose in life between people diagnosed with cancer and otherwise healthy people.
Methods: This descriptive study involved 126 voluntary participants comprising 62 people with confirmed cancer diagnosis and 64 healthy controls. The cancer patients were recruited from the Radiotherapy Department of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital while the healthy participants were made up of different members of a university community. The twenty-items Purpose in Life Test (PIL) by Crumbaugh and Maholick, 1964 was validated for cultural suitability and used for data collection. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression and t-test statistics were used in data analysis.
Results: The mean age of patients with cancer and the control group was 50.16 (range 23-96) and 40.14 (range19-81) respectively. In the cancer group, there were 6 (9.7%) men and 56 (90.3%) women while in the control group females were 41(64.1%) and males were 23(35.9%). A significant mean difference was found in the PIL scores between the cancer patients group and the control (p<0.05). Marital status predicted the PIL among the cancer patients, while age, gender and occupational status did not.
Conclusion: This study shows that cancer affects the purpose in life of cancer patients. This finding if further extended by future studies can provide the rationale for clinical psychologists, nurses and other stake holders to consider including purpose in life in the everyday assessments of cancer patients. Also psychological interventions geared towards finding a purpose in life can be developed to help patients experiencing existential void.